inside cabin fresh air vent cut off

[TheTurtle]

anybody have this plate that shuts off the air to individual seats?  One of mine is missing and since im in there fixing the control knob, one of the rheostats and retaping the ceiling I figure Ill replace it.  If they are not available I was thinking of having it 3d printed but I dont know if they can do something .085 thick.

[Hank]

Trace it out from another piece of acrylic or plexiglas and make your own. I think mine are metal . . .

[TheTurtle]

11 minutes ago, Hank said:

Trace it out from another piece of acrylic or plexiglas and make your own. I think mine are metal . . .

Thought about it but everytime I try that on other projects I crack the plastic and thats just with straight cuts.  Me making a circle would be pretty funny.  Metal might actually work though.

[TheTurtle]

got me thinking now.  This doesnt have to be all that solid.  I could do it with some plastic sign board I can actually cut with a box knife instead of messing with the thicker plastic that always cracks on me.

[Hank]

Go ahead and remake them all while you're at it. The one in the photo is cracked in the center.

[jetdriven]

I think vantage plane plastics makes those. They are not an easy shape to replicate. I may also have one

[TheTurtle]

5 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

I think vantage plane plastics makes those. They are not an easy shape to replicate. I may also have one

didnt see it on their site but I sent them an email.

[Yetti]

Mine are alum.  They are too thin and and rattle.  If you could find thin delrin sheets. and cut them that would be better than Acrylic.

http://www.nationwideplastics.net/plastics/acetal-delrin/?_vsrefdom=ppcgoogle&ex=wyfhl3-eep549-ql3aga&gclid=CjwKEAiA2OzDBRCdqIyIqYaaqQoSJABeJZdiArKYnuwD9bjpTcOqeOaBNBjOUSGUUktG3Wtb9pkVEBoCDBHw_wcB

 

Consider looking at the cutting boards at Wally World or your other favorite discount store.

[Brandontwalker]

http://m.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/whisperflovent.php?recfer=1005



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jetdriven]

In the front the duct is only about 1" deep and slapping a wemac style vent on it won't work well. Not much air will come out and what does can't be angled back without a complex shaped mount for the wemac vent .  Also you still have a 5" hole in the duct to fill and a 5" hole in the headliner plastic. 

Edited January 15, 2017 by jetdriven

[Brandontwalker]

I respectfully disagree.  It is a bit more work to fill the 5" hole, but they work great.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Brandontwalker

[TheTurtle]

I made a new plate with some acrylic and a jigsaw.  Pardon the ugly holes but this stuff wants to crack like crazy.  Works perfectly.  I fixed my outside vent so the knob actually opens and closes it and figured I'd get the shutoffs in the cabin working again too.  I guess we'll see what happens when i finally fly her again.

[carusoam]

You might be able to use a Dremel mini drum sander to smooth the lines. The small jagged edges are prone to cracking and crack propagation with the acrylic material.

polymer engineer, not just a PP...

Best regards,

-a-

Edited January 17, 2017 by carusoam

[dcastor]

I had a piece of acrylic laser cut for the window that covers my trim and flaps indicator.  Really simple process with Ponoko.com...you download a PDF with their templates then use a graphic editing program to define where the cuts go.  Upload your file and for a couple of bucks you'll have a perfectly piece of acrylic.  They also do a variety of other materials as well, so you could experiment with aluminum.  

Good luck!

[carusoam]

Interesting way to look at this challenge DC!

https://www.ponoko.com/#what

Best regards,

-a-

[Cyril Gibb]

14 hours ago, TheTurtle said:

I made a new plate with some acrylic and a jigsaw.  Pardon the ugly holes but this stuff wants to crack like crazy.  Works perfectly.  I fixed my outside vent so the knob actually opens and closes it and figured I'd get the shutoffs in the cabin working again too.  I guess we'll see what happens when i finally fly her again.

 

Cracking when you drill plastic is usually because the sharp cutters bite in too much.  What works for me is to drill a few seconds into brick or concrete to dull the cutting edges.  Obviously, you then have a plastic drill bit, not useful for anything else.  For cutting, a jigsaw does the same.  It tries to cut too quickly.  Use a thin cutting disk with an electric drill... or a dremel.

[rbridges]

On 1/14/2017 at 9:16 PM, TheTurtle said:

Thought about it but everytime I try that on other projects I crack the plastic and thats just with straight cuts.  Me making a circle would be pretty funny.  Metal might actually work though.

I think mine are metal, too.  I would just have one made out of aluminum.  

[N201MKTurbo]

I replaced mine with Wemacs like Brandon. I'm very happy. I have all the old parts so I can put it back the old crappy way if someone gives me grief about the change.